Guyana has met the legal requirements to implement the European Union Economic Partnership Agreement, making this country the first Caricom member state to do so. On Thursday, February 3rd, the National Assembly passed the Customs Duty (Amendment) Order 2011, which makes way for Guyana’s entry into the EPA.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh moved for the confirmation of the Order, which was tabled in late January after its signing on January 14, prior to the publishing of the official Gazette Order No. 1 of 2011, which amended the Customs Act to include the EPA Schedule of Tariff Rates, according to the Government Information Agency.
The European Union and CARIFORUM emerged from negotiations on December 16, 2007, but the agreement was not formally signed by the participating states until October 2008.
“Under the terms of that economic partnership agreement, CARIFORUM negotiated moratorium from January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2010, before effecting entry into force of the tariff and liberalization commitment under the EPA. As a result of this, CARIFORUM countries are scheduled to commence the liberalization under the scheduled agree from January 2011,” the finance minister told the House.
Under the EPA, Guyana’s tariff treatment of goods originating in the European Union entails: 17 per cent of imports (or tariff lines) from the EU being excluded from liberalization; 60 per cent of all imports or tariff lines to be liberalized immediately from 2011; and the remaining 23 per cent of the imports will have their tariffs phased out over a five- to 25-year period.
Dr Singh added that, in the current order, there is reference to phasing of the tariff adjustments, the different categories of goods and the years they will come into force.
When the European Commission first proposed the agreement, all countries except Guyana and Haiti agreed to sign on, which left these two countries standing alone in their decision not to sign, with Guyana opting for a ‘goods only’ deal. This decision by President Bharrat Jagdeo sparked much criticism from other Caricom leaders, but the president was adamant in his stance that the deal would do more harm than good to the region.
Guyana later made two proposals for signing, which will be beneficial for member states. These are: a mandatory review of the EPA five years after signature, and every subsequent five-yearly period, as well as a guarantee that in the event of conflict between the agreement and the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, during implementation of the EPA, the Treaty of Chaguaramas shall prevail.
The EU subsequently included the two clauses for which President Jagdeo lobbied, and with these in place, Guyana signed the EPA on October 21, 2008 in Brussels.
The EPA is a scheme to create a free trade area between the EU and the African/Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The need for the ACP/EU/EPA had its genesis in the realization that the ‘LOME’ Convention did not live up to expectations.
The trade deal is in response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with the WTO rules and are a key element of the Cotonou Agreement, the latest agreement in the history of ACP-EU development cooperation.
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